My mom makes the best broccoli I've ever had. This dish is an extension of that by adding some fresh tomatoes and roasting some onions that I hadn't used yet. Her recipe involves sautéing garlic in oil and then adding the broccoli and some stock to generate steam. She then covers it until it's done cooking. Simple but ridiculously good. A staple of my childhood. The broccoli gets a lot of it's taste from the garlic that flavors the oil. The tomatoes and wine give a little acid to the dish and the roasted onions give a hint of sweetness here and there. The finishing salt gives it the nice salty crunch you're looking for, which also allows you to go a little lighter on the sodium while you cook. This can work as a great side dish or stand on it's own as a full meal. 

The Process

Ingredients

• 1lbs grape tomatoes

• 2lbs broccoli

• 10-12 red pearl onions

• 3 shallots

• 6 bulbs garlic

• kosher salt

• onion powder

• canola oil

• 1 cup chicken stock

• 1/2 cup sauvignon blanc white wine

• red pepper flakes

Cookware

• Large Fry Pan

• Baking dish or oven safe pan

Short and Sweet Instructions

• Roast the tomatoes and onions in separate pans

• Saute the shallots and garlic

• Deglaze with white wine and chicken stock

• Saute the broccoli

• Mix in onions and tomatoes

• Season and serve

Prep

Tomatoes: wash tomatoes

Shallots and Garlic: Dice garlic. Slice shallots.

Onions: peel and cut in half

Broccoli: wash, trim bottoms, pull stalks off one by one, cutting the main stem if it gets too long. Slice big pieces in half.

Cooking Instructions

Tomatoes

• heat oven to 400º

• toss tomatoes in canola oil

• season with kosher salt and onion powder

• toss twice

• season again

• put in a pan or baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes

• Set aside

Pearl Onions

• cut in half

• peel

• toss in canola and kosher salt

• roast at 400º, cut side down 20 minutes or until no resistance

• Set aside

Broccoli

• in a large sauté pan, heat canola over medium heat

• add shallot and garlic

• sauté until golden brown

• sprinkle with red pepper flakes to desired heat. you don’t need much to get some heat.

• add wine to deglaze and turn heat to high

• reduce by 2/3

• add broccoli

• add a good pinch of salt, garlic and onion powder

• toss to coat

• add the chicken stock

• cover the pan

• cook for 6-8 minutes or until no resistance in broccoli stems

• remove lid

• add onions and tomatoes (if the tomatoes are sitting in their juices, you can add this too, but taste first so it doesn’t just taste like tomato water.

• gently toss to combine

• adjust seasoning

• add some black pepper

• plate

• finish with some extra virgin olive oil and finishing salt like Fleur de sel or Maldon.

Plating

• Spoon into a plate

• Drizzle with a good extra virgin olive oil

• Season with finishing salt

• Crack some fresh black pepper over top

• You can sprinkle a little Sherry Vinegar over top if desired. Don't go too far because the dish already has acid in it from the tomatoes and wine.

The Finished Dish